Chesstown King's Reviews and Thoughts

  Ciara’s debut has all the qualities that a debut R&B album should have, and that’s a good and a bad thing. Luckily its mostly a good thing. Ciara never really experiments, and plays it safe on the entire album. The album has a good mix of party/uptempo songs like the lead single Goodies and 1 2 Step. Oh with Ludacris is very good and pretty midtempo. And I is an exceptional ballad song. Theres some other good songs to round it out. The album is simple and effective, and a good way to start a career. Lyrics 20 Beats 22 Depth 21 Tilt 22 Verdict 85

  I've seen a lot of NBA finals in my days but this one was weird....The team that lost the Spurs were up in every game by double digits so technically they could of won this series in no more than 5. I think it was a combination of youth and the fact that the Knicks are just a hell of a team this year. Brunson balled out all series despite heavy Spurs defense. Wemby had a tough go of it for 4/5 of the games. The game plan worked. I remember watching game 4 where the Spurs were up almost 30 points and still faltered and let the Knicks win....it was the biggest comeback ever in the finals. Which is truly insane. Well honestly I feel the Spurs will be back soon to the finals and they will be more experienced. The Knicks had far more playoff experience on their roster and it showed. I basically knew in game 5 that once the game was close in the fourth quarter the Knicks were gonna pull it out. So idk about Wemby being the best player in the league but he's at worst the 3rd best (B...

I gotta admit this album really grew on me. At first I didn't think too much of it. The album is short at just 9 songs. The first song "Risk It All" is really smooth and has a nice buildup. The single "I Just Might" is a major highlight. The song is really fun!  "God Was Showing Off" might be my favorite song tho. Basically you have an album of well made smooth hits. Bruno does well lyrically. The production, while a low point, isn't bad at all. I liked most of these songs. "Something Serious" is another banger. Sure maybe the album could have been a little more explosive....but Bruno is clearly taking a note of the Silk Sonic collaboration album he did.  Overall its a good album. Definitely check this one out. Lyrics 23 Beats 19 Depth 22 Tilt 21 Verdict 85

 Drake returns with his much anticipated rap album. For the most part it’s pretty good. He’s rapping better than he did on For All the Dogs. The best songs on this album are the Make Them songs: "Make Them Cry", "Make Them Pay", "Make Them Remember", and "Make Them Know". The songs are pretty similar as Drake spits over laid back production on those set of songs. He takes a lot of shots on this album too...and not just at Kendrick. Lebron James and Jay-Z get fired at too.  The song "Dust" is maybe my favorite song. Once the beat switches its straight fire. "Janice STFU" is pretty catchy too. "Little Birdie" has an ok beat but the heavy autotune on Drake's voice is so bad. Drake spits really well on "Plot Twist" too. 2 Hard 4 The Radio has a nice bounce too. Overall it's good to hear what Drake has been meditating on but you can't help but feel he's really just not over the beef he lost to Ke...

Common returns with a great 2007 effort. The album features him in his comfort zone, and that’s not a bad thing. Lyrically it’s a great performance from the Common Sense. He got Kanye to produce a lot again, and the result are some wonderful beats. Will.i.am does a good job with “I Want You”. The first half of the album is the better half…but besides the ridiculously long end of Common album track at the end, all the songs are good to great. “The People” featuring Dwele is such a beautiful song. I really like the bounce of “Drivin’ Me Wild” which features Lily Allen.  “U, Black Maybe” is interesting too. I love the synergy of Kanye and Common on “Southside” too. Ultimately this album is just about as good as Be…..in my opinion. Lyrics 25 Beats 23 Depth 23 Tilt 23 Verdict 94

Jada’s 2009 offering is really good, even if there were a couple songs he could have left off. He shows great lyrical ability on the songs, and his delivery demands your attention. The beats are good too, and I felt the album had pretty good replayability. This one has a little something for everybody. I felt the collabo with Ne-yo wasn’t as good as it could have been. What If is a great song even if it is somewhat like his “Why” song from 2004’s Kiss of Death. “Letter to B.I.G.” is incredibly thoughtful and features Faith Evans. “Stress Ya” produced by the Neptunes might be the best song. There some other gems too like “Smoking Gun” featuring Jazmine Sullivan. “I Tried” and “Come and Get Me” are pretty mid tho. Overall it’s a good album. Lyrics 23 Beats 20 Depth 22 Tilt 20 Verdict 85